Washington's "Top 2" Primary Wins

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that Washington (the state) can use a party-blind primary system. From the AP report: The ruling means the ...

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that Washington (the state) can use a party-blind primary system. From the AP report:

The ruling means the state will dump the unpopular "pick-a-party" primary it has used for the past four years while the voter-approved Top 2 initiative was being challenged in the courts by the political parties.

In its place will be something akin to the old "blanket primary" that was abolished previously by the federal courts. The ballot will list all candidates for each office and a voter will be able to pick his or her favorite, with ticket-splitting allowed.

The top two vote-getters then will advance to the general election in November, even if they are from the same party.